Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 108
July 26, 2017
Google will stop showing search results as you type because it makes no sense on mobile
Google is getting rid of its landmark Instant Search feature, which automatically populates search results as you type in a query, according to Search Engine Land. Instant Search was first introduced back in 2010 under the guidance of Marissa Mayer, then the company’s vice president of search and user experience. It was a pivotal change in not just how users experienced Google, but also how they used the internet to seek out knowledge. Google estimated at the time that it would collectively shave off millions of seconds per hour by surfacing results as fast as possible and cutting down the time it takes to write out an entire query.
Now, however, more than half of Google searches happen on mobile, with the scales continually tipping away from desktop as time goes on. On mobile screens, Instant Search doesn’t make as much sense given we use our fingers and virtual buttons to interact with software, and trying to load a results page on top of the onscreen keyboard isn’t exactly good user experience design. In a statement given to Search Engine Land, a Google spokesperson explained the change:
We launched Google Instant back in 2010 with the goal to provide users with the information they need as quickly as possible, even as they typed their searches on desktop devices. Since then, many more of our searches happen on mobile, with very different input and interaction and screen constraints. With this in mind, we have decided to remove Google Instant, so we can focus on ways to make Search even faster and more fluid on all devices.
Now, recommended search results powered by auto-complete will show up in the standard drop-down menu, but the results page won’t render in real time. Users have always had the option to turn off Instant Search, but now it appears it will be gone for good to create a consistent experience across desktop and mobile.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/26/16034844/google-kills-off-instant-search-for-mobile-consistency
Facebook reportedly building smart speaker with touch screen
Facebook may launch its own smart-home gadget to get you messaging more friends and looking at more photos. DigiTimes reports from Taiwan that Facebook is building a 15-inch touch-screen smart speaker.
Citing sources from the “upstream supply chain,” Chinese iPhone manufacturer Pegatron is building the device for a Q1 2018 launch, with a small pilot run having already been produced. It’s said to have been designed by Facebook’s secretive new hardware lab Building 8, using an LG in-cell touch screen with a magnesium-aluminum-alloy chassis.
While no further details are known about the speaker’s functionality, it could potentially extend Facebook’s feed of photos and videos, plus its dominant messaging platform, into the bedroom, living room or kitchen. When reached for comment, a Facebook spokesperson sent me the company’s standard response: “Unfortunately we don’t have anything to share at this time.”
The Facebook speaker might work as a digital photo frame when inactive, piping in new photos or videos to brighten up the home. Through voice commands, users could potentially Like or leave comments on this content.
It would also be sensible for Facebook to allow messaging from the speaker, via voice-dictated text messages, VoIP audio calls or video calling. As of February, 400 million of Facebook Messenger’s 1.2 billion users communicate via Facebook audio and video calling every month. A touch-screen smart speaker could become a high-tech home phone alternative that’s easy for younger kids and grandparents to use.
Amazon is already trying to barge into the home communications market with its new Amazon Echo Show version of its smart speaker, which lets people video call each other over its screen. Google has its own Google Home speaker and Apple is preparing to launch the HomePod. But none of them have a ubiquitous cross-device instant messaging platform with a comprehensive social graph the way Facebook does.
Source:
Facebook reportedly building smart speaker with touch screen
July 25, 2017
See What A Bearded Chris Evans Would Look Like As Solid Snake
While Chris Evans may be best known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain America, a recent photo circulating around suggests the actor could easily fill another popular character’s shoes: Metal Gear Solid’s Solid Snake. During San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios released all kinds of juicy information about the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, including several character posters that were handed out during the event. One poster was of Chris Evans’ Captain America standing at the head of other Avengers like Falcon and sporting a great bushy beard.
Naturally, comic fans will be aware that this look is inspired by Steve Rogers’ Nomad identity. Rogers adopts this identity in the comics after discovering that a government official is the head of a terrorist organization. Rogers comes to question the trustworthiness of the American government. This certainly sounds similar to the mindset of Captain America at the end of Captain America: Civil War, so Marvel Studios bringing in the Nomad personality should fit in nicely with Infinity War. Regardless, the image of a despondent Cap has inspired several altered photos, including the Solid Snake recreation.
Twitter user BossLogic revealed (via CB) a particularly professional image of Evans’ as Solid Snake in full uniform and sporting the same beard and the character’s trademark cigarette and bandana. For a more detailed look at Evans as the popular video game character and frequent protagonist, take a look below.
[image error]
The work put in by BossLogic is definitely convincing and it’s easy enough to picture Evans taking up the role. While Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is currently slated to helm the long-gestating video game adaptation, there’s been no solid information as to who could take up the role of Solid Snake. Naturally, a fan-made photo is certainly not indicative that Evans will get the role, but it certainly would not be the worst choice imaginable given Evans’ popularity thanks to his role as Captain America.
Of course, juggling such a commitment with his role in the MCU would more than likely prove to be incredibly difficult to do. There’s also a matter of the critical and financial failure that’s been attached to most live action attempts at adapting video games into movies. Evans may very well wish to keep himself as far away from a project like Metal Gear Solidas possible given the stigma attached to such projects. Either way, BossLogic’s fan-made photo is an incredibly convincing case to at least imagine what could be if Evans were to ever step into the Solid Snake role.
Source:
http://screenrant.com/chris-evans-infinity-war-beard-metal-gear-solid-snake/
Facebook bought a startup to crack down on users who share videos without permission
Facebook has acquired Source3, a startup that uses technology to identify content that has been shared on the internet without permission, Recode reports.
Facebook has had issues with pirated content in the past, and is now looking to use Source3’s software to enhance its rights management technology and potentially crack down on users who privately share videos they don’t own the rights to.
That is a necessary step if Facebook wants to push its video business and become competitive with platforms like Google’s YouTube, which offers a similar identification tool called “Content ID.”
Facebook has made it clear that its intention is to move towards longform, exclusive video content on its platform, and the acquisition could help video creators (and right holders) to remain enticed by Facebook’s massive scale and reach.
Recode reports that Facebook is “acquiring both the technology and at least some of the team behind Source3,” and that the group will be integrated fully into Facebook and not operate as a standalone unit.
Source:
Google promises 11 Daydream VR phones by the end of the year
Google CEO and freshly appointed Alphabet board member Sundar Pichai was typically guarded during yesterday’s Alphabet earnings call, but he did disclose a nice number for us to look forward to. By the end of 2017, said Pichai, there will be 11 Android smartphones on the market that support Google’s Daydream virtual reality platform.
Daydream turns compatible smartphones into standalone VR systems: you just need one of Google’s Daydream View headsets to hold the device, together with the accompanying touch controller, and you’re away. I’ve used Daydream with a Google Pixel, and its big distinction from the larger PC-tethered alternatives like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift is in just how light and comfortable it is. Obviously, a Daydream phone is also much more portable and versatile too, but for me the standout feature is that I can wear that headset without it feeling heavy and tiring after only a few minutes.
As things stand today, there are only four Daydream-compatible models to choose from: Google’s own Pixel handsets, Motorola’s Moto Z, Huawei’s Mate 9 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 9, and ZTE’s Axon 7. Samsung famously announced Daydream support will be coming to its flagship Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, and that’s just started rolling out as a software update. With Pichai’s disclosure this week, we can expect at least a couple of as-yet-unannounced Daydream devices beyond the predictable refresh of the Pixel lineup in the fall.
Source:
